A man on parole yesterday allegedly hijacked a limousine, along with its driver, and opened fire on police officers before being arrested at his apartment in Tamsui five hours later.
“The suspect at first said he had an argument over debts with the limousine driver, so he kidnapped him. Later on, he told us he did it for no reason. We are still trying to determine his motives,” said Tsai Jin-ba (蔡金霸), director of Taipei County Police Department's Tamsui Precinct.
The 41-year-old man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), allegedly hijacked the rental Mercedes limousine and its driver, surnamed Cheng (鄭), in Beitou at about 4:30am, while Cheng was on his way to pick up a client.
Tsai Jin-ba said the suspect kidnapped Cheng and drove the car to Bali Township (八里), Taipei County, took NT$350 from Cheng and left him there.
Police received a call from Cheng and located Tsai through the limousine's GPS.
A car chase soon followed, with Tsai firing one shot at police, who fired three shots in his direction.
Tsai then abandoned the vehicle at a garage in Tamsui. Escaping on foot, he again shot at police. Police responded by firing six shots, but missed their target.
Tsai went into hiding in his apartment on Shueiyuan Street and threatened to commit suicide by blowing up a gasoline tank.
During the standoff, police and Tsai exchanged 10 shots.
At about 1:30pm, SWAT team members broke into the apartment and arrested Tsai.
Police discovered that Tsai had taken drugs minutes before his arrest.
Police alleged that Tsai was involved in another robbery in Luzhou (蘆洲), Taipei County, yesterday morning prior to the hijacking.
Tsai was still being questioned by police at press time.
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